Flexible highway guard



April 18, 193 9. Y R. s. MAYER FLEXIBLE HIGHWAY GUARD Filed July 17,1936 2 Sheets-Sheet l Attorney 6L!!! 9 N 3 M Al O\ Q.

R Sv MAYER FLEXIBLE HIGHWAY GUARD Filed July 17, 1956 Aprii as, 1939.

y AWN n mm n x. A ffomey Patented Apr. 18, 1939 UNITED STATES FLEXIBLEHIGHWAY GUARD Robert S. Mayer, Salt Lake City, Utah, asslgnor to TheEimco Corporation, Salt Lake City,

Utah

Application July 17, 1936, Serial No. 91,074

3 Claims.

The present invention relates to improvements in flexible highway guardsor road guards of the type employing flexible and resilient rails andsupporting posts, arranged along one or both sides of the highway orroad, especially at dangerous points, to prevent automotive vehiclesfrom leaving the road, as well as to prevent complete wrecking ordemolition of a vehicle that may collide with the guard rail.

In carrying out the invention, sectional and continuous guard rails,possessing durability, strength, and a high degree of resiliency orelasticity are provided for absorbing the shocks of colliding cars orautomotive vehicles, and for defleeting the colliding vehicle back intothe roadway or highway. Means are provided in the construction of thesectional and continuous guard rails to compensate for expansion andcontraction of the metal rails under differing degrees of heat, wherebythe continuity and uniformity of the guard rail is preserved, andwarping is eliminated. A novel type of spring suspension or support forthe rails, on spaced posts, is provided to absorb lateral shocks andstrains imposed against the guard rail, and to return the rails toproper position after absorbing the impact of a colliding vehicle.

In the manufacture of the various parts of the guards a minimum numberof parts are required, which may be produced at comparatively low cost,and these parts may readily be assembled for initial use, and withfacility broken or bent parts may be replaced for maintenance of thehighway guard.

The invention consists in certain novel combinations and arrangements ofparts as will hereinafter be more fully set forth and claimed. In theaccompanying drawings one complete example of the physical embodiment ofthe invention is illustrated, wherein the parts are combined andarranged according to the best mode so far devised for the practicalapplication of the principles of the invention. It will be understoodthat various changes and alterations may be made D in the exemplifyingstructures, within the scope of the appended claims without departingfrom the principles of the invention.

Figure 1 is a front face view, or elevation, at one end of the guardembodying the invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan or top edge view of the structure of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical transverse sectional View at line 3-3 of Figure1.

Figure 4 is a perspective detail view of one of the spring supportingbraces, detached from a post.

Figure 5 is a perspective view of one of the supporting or suspendingstraps, detached from a rail-section. a

Figure 6 illustrates the arrangement of the bolt holes in theoverlapping ends of two adjoining rail-sections.

In the erection of the guard the required num ber of posts as I and 2,of suitable material, are in spaced at intervals of say twelve feetalong the side of the road or highway to be guarded, and a continuousrail, made up of sections, as 3 and 4, is'braced, and suspended orsupported in resilient manner from the row of posts. If the posts are 15spaced at twelve-foot intervals, the rail-sections are slightly longerin order to permit overlapping of adjoining ends of the sections, andthese sections, as indicated are preferably concavo-ccnvex in crosssection with the convex face toward the road or highway. Each section ispreferably fashioned of hot rolled carbon steel of high tensilestrength, to insure durability and also to insure a certain degree offlexibility or resiliency under impact from a colliding vehicle. Theends of adjoining rails overlap at the posts as indicated in Figures 1and 2, and as indicated in Figure 6, where the adjoining ends areseparated for purposes of illustration, each section is provided at oneend with round bolt holes 5 and at its other end each section isprovided with a complementary set of elongated bolt holes or slots 6that extend longitudinally of the rail section. A suitable number ofbolts 1 are passed through the holes and slots to secure together theoverlapping ends of the sections, and the resulting continuous rail iscapable of expansion and contraction under differing degrees of heat toprevent warping or, displacement of the rail-sections, and also topermit, or compensate for a slight relative longitudinal movement of arail section under impact from a colliding vehicle.

Near the opposite ends of a rail section are provided spaced supportingor suspending straps 8, which are vertically arranged, transversely ofthe rail, and each of these straps is fashioned from a steel forging,with offset ends 9, 9, struck on the same arc as the concave curve ofthe rail section. The two offset ends 9, 9, are Welded to the railsection, and the strap thus provides a s-upporting or suspending loop atthe outer or rear side of the rail.

By means of these suspending or supporting loops on the rail-sections,the continuous rail, as a whole, is supported from the row of poststhrough the medium of spring suspension braces, one attached to each ofthe posts and located between a post and the guard rail. These springsuspension braces are fashioned of tempered steel, heat treated toinsure a maximum tensile strength, and possessing a degree of resiliencyor elasticity that will absorb shocks due to impact of .a vehicleagainst the supported guard rail. Each of these spring braces comprisesa central body portion ID with elongated bolt holes or slots ll, throughwhich the bolts l2 pass for securing the brace in horizontal position onthe post, and nuts 33 are provided at the rear of the post to secure thebolts. The brace is fashioned with duplex, angular arms i 4, l4,extending in opposite directions from the fixed body or cen tral portionof the brace, and these arms terminate in oppositely extending alinedends 15, positioned in a vertical plane parallel with the rail sectionsof the continuous rail. The strong but resilient brace arms are coupledwith the guard rail through the instrumentality of the loops or straps 8on the outer faces of the adjoining ends of a pair of rail sections, andit will be seen that the ends l5 project through the suspending loops,loosely so that the angular arms may be flexed under impact against theface of the rail. As the angular arms are flexed they tend to straighteninto parallelism with the guard rail, as the shock of impact isabsorbed, and the free ends I 5 of the arms slide in the looped strapsof the rail to compensate for the elongation of the flexed brace. Afterthe impact, and due to the resiliency of the brace, the latter assumesits original form and length and the ends l5 are slightly retracted,inwardly, through the supporting loops.

The flat ends l5 of the braces, parallel with the guard rail, are ofsuflicient length to permit relative longitudinal movement of the railwith relation to the brace, or vice versa, and this relative movementcompensates for expansion and contraction of the continuous rail undervarying degrees of heat, as well as flexing and elongation and.contraction of the overall length of the spring braces, under impact.

As a protection at the end of the guard rail, for both the rail and alsofor a vehicle colliding with the end of the rail, a special rail sectionI6 is attached to the last (or first, as the case may be) full-lengthsection, as 3. The inner face of this end-section is concavo-convex incross section, similar to the full length rail-sections, but theend-section is provided with a return bend E1 of fiat metal, which formsa looped end for the guard rail, which is turned away from the highwayto protect the posts and to assist in avoiding injury or damage tovehicles colliding therewith. The loop ll terminates in a flat end i8that is secured by bolts against the rear face of the end post I, andwhile this end is rigidly attached to the post, it will be apparent thatthe spring brace at the front of the post provides the necessaryresiliency to absorb shocks from impact of a colliding vehicle with theend of the guard rail, thus preventing material damage to the guardrail.

The duplex arms of the spring braces, one to each post, it will benoted, provide Widely spaced bearings or supports for the loops of therail sections, and in this manner the continuous guard rail, throughoutits length, has a substantial means for its support, in connection withthe row of posts, that renders the guard rail strong and durable. Therail sections, which are of substantial width, or height, are adapted toresist impact of a colliding vehicle, without breaking, and Withoutdanger of entanglement with the vehicle, and the latter is deflectedback into the highway, instead of breaking through the barrier or guardrail.

The various parts of the highway guard may be assembled and erected inany suitable manner, and repairs and replacements may be made withfacility when necessary. Preferably the loops on the adjoining ends oftwo rail sections are first. slipped over the opposite ends of thespring brace; then the overlapping ends of the rail sections are boltedtogether at l; and the spring brace is then bolted to the post by theuse of bolts [2 and nuts I3, It will however, be apparent that othermodes may be employed for assembling and jointing the parts, and becauseof the minimum number of parts employed, this work may be accomplishedwith facility and by the use of unskilled labor and ordinary tools.

Having thus fully described the invention, what is claimed and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

l. The combination with a support and a spring brace mounted thereoncomprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of asectional guard rail, said guard rail comprising adjoining sectionshaving overlapping ends, means permitting relative movement between.said overlapping ends, and supporting loops rigid with said endsslidably mounted on said supporting arms.

2. The combination with a supporting post and a spring brace mountedthereon comprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of asectional guard rail, said rail comprising adjoining sections,supporting loops on adjoining ends of the sections and mounted on saidarms, and one of said sections having a return bend forming a loopattached to said post.

3. The combination with a supporting post and a spring brace mountedthereon comprising oppositely extending resilient supporting arms, of asectional guard rail comprising adjoining sections having overlappingperforated ends, the openings on one end of each section being elongatedand the end having elongated openings adapted to co-act with theopposite end of the adjoining section, and means for securing saidadjoining ends whereby relative longitudinal movement between adjoiningends is permitted, and supporting loops on said adjoining ends of saidsections and mounted on said arms.

ROBERT S. MAYER.

